Articles

Desperate times call for desperate measures! For God’s people, desperate times call for desperate prayer. Now is the time to move the heart of God with desperate prayer and fasting. As Hollywood values and sodomy replace Christianity, we must turn to God. Our hope lies not in the White House, but in God’s house, and His house is filled with the prayers of His people.

We must humbly come before the throne of God who will always respond to our desperation. God delivered Esther and her people when they humbled themselves with fasting and prayer (Esther 4). He answered Elisha’s cry and gave resurrection life (2 Kings 4). When Hezekiah cried out, God gave him victory in battle (2 Chronicles 32). Blind Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus despite the scorn, and he received sight (Mark 10). Imagine if these ones had not cried out; they would not have experienced miraculous transformations!

"I WILL NOT LET YOU GO UNTIL YOU BLESS ME!" In Genesis 32 Jacob was in that desperate pursuit of God: “Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day… And he said, ‘Let me go, for the day breaks.’ But he said, ‘I will not let you go until you bless me!’”

Jacob’s story gives us an idea of how intensely we must pursue God. Certainly he must have been physically exhausted by the end of the night. Wrestling matches typically only last about twenty-five minutes; boxers typically fight twelve three-minute rounds and experience tremendous exhaustion! As one boxer said between rounds, "Now I know what it feels like to die." Despite his physical condition, Jacob persevered; Jacob fought... ALL NIGHT! This perseverance is the mark of a true prayer warrior who persists to see the Lord’s will accomplished. At the end of the night Jacob did not say, “Lord, I have fought all night; please bless me before I go.” No! Jacob desperately cried out, “I will not let you go until you bless me!” This is the level of desperation that moves the heart of God! Where are the Jacobs of today who will not give up in pursuit of revival in our country?

GOD IS MERCIFUL

Some Christians believe that there is no hope for the condition of America. They believe that judgment is rapidly coming upon America. These thoughts are easy to think, but God is merciful. While it is true that we are becoming as Sodom which God destroyed, God also pronounced judgment upon the city of Nineveh, but Nineveh was spared for a time because they turned in repentance. In desperation the king and people of that wicked city fasted, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. God heard and relented from the disaster that He had decreed.

In 1785 Thomas Jefferson said, “Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.” If Thomas Jefferson trembled for this country over two hundred years ago, how much more should we cry out for the condition of America today?! As believers we must cry out in desperation humbling ourselves before the Almighty God. We must not falter in the battle for revival, both personal and widespread, no matter how weak or tired we may feel! God will hear and reward the desperate prayers of a humble people.

Why should we pray?

The short answer is that God commands it. “Call upon me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3 Prayer is communication between us and our Heavenly Father.

Jesus said that men ought to pray. He chided his disciples for falling asleep instead of praying with Him. “What, could you not watch with me one hour?” Mark 14:37

Prayer should be the continual turning of our hearts to God about everything we need. A Christian is to pray all the time for all men. 1 Timothy 2:1

Are we praying enough?

One question that comes to mind is, “Are we praying enough for our nation’s leaders, for our country?” From the early 1600s when the settlers arrived at Plymouth in the 1600s, before they got off their ship they made a compact with God called the Mayflower Compact. . We know that many of our country’s founders were men of God, who acknowledged in the Preamble to the Constitution that the rights of men come from God. They affirmed their belief in the Creator and His blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Has our nation turned from God? If so, what, if anything, can we do to turn it around? The answer is always found in God’s Word. My late pastor often used to say, “Nothing of eternal value is ever accomplished apart from prayer.”

Is it too late?

It is not too late for America, for believers to be convicted to holiness and holy living, and for unbelievers to be convicted of their need of the Savior. Let us continually remind ourselves of II Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.”

Our challenge as believers should be to constantly remind people of the power of prayer. Prayer changes hearts! And when one person’s heart is changed, this can lead to churches, communities, states, and yes, even the nation being changed.

I encourage all believers to commit to daily prayer for revival in our nation, for repentance, and for Godly leadership.

Revival for America

It is a privilege to take time out of our busy schedules to pray. None of us would take time to pray if we did not believe that through prayer God changes things. Election after election we have put our hope in people believing they can bring about the changes we have so desired. But time and time again we have been disappointed in man.

At this time in history no man can save us...even if the Republicans take over the Senate, or a righteous man takes the White House in 2016, that is not enough to save America. They cannot save America because they are not capable of changing the hearts of the people. Though it looks like one man and one party have greatly harmed America it is not so. It is the many millions that put them in office that have harmed us.

Revival in the hearts of the people

What America needs and what will save America is a revival in the hearts of the people. A revival in their hearts that will transform their character...then our elections will have different results. In the Bible we read how God visited Jacob, a man who was a deceiver by nature, yet God visited him and changed his heart. He experienced personal revival that changed his character and transformed his life from that day forward.

Welsh Revival

In the famous Welsh Revival I read that the Hearts of men were so changed that all the bars on every street corner in that coal mining town were closed because they no longer got business. The coal miners that would visit the bars after work every day were so transformed by the revival that like Jacob their character was changed.

No man, no political party can do that! Only God can!

This is what America needs!

How can we have a revival like that?

I have been reading from the book of Zechariah, where we see Israel being faced with an impossible situation in the natural...there was a mountain before them. But The Lord spoke to Zerrubabel, who was the Leader at that time, and said, " It is not by might nor by power but by My Spirit saith The Lord". The Lord said in that same portion of scripture, " who are you O great Mountain? Before Zerrubabel you shall become a plain!" God reminded them that it was not by their own strength that the mountain would be removed but only through Him.

BUT with Him ALL things are possible

Like Israel, God has brought us to a place where we have a mountain before us, an impossible situation. And He wants us to fully understand that without Him nothing is possible. BUT with Him ALL things are possible. For this reason we willingly can offer up our time in prayer and labor to be channels through which God CAN and WILL make a difference.

A man of God once said, "The devil is aware that one hour of close fellowship with God in prayer is able to pull down what he has been contriving and building over many years". Our unfailing prayers for God to change the hearts of the people in America can pull down what the enemy has been doing for some years now!

America too can experience what Wales experienced. I mention the Welsh revival as an example but there are many examples throughout the history of the church When the hearts of people were changed and turned back to The Lord.

Argentine Revival

On the famous Argentine revival 50 students interceded and turned the country upside down.

Every time we pray, every time we fast, is a stepping stone toward victory, toward the revival that we so desperately need, toward the revival that will save America.

So in conclusion, I encourage you that as we sow in prayer now, the time will come of a reaping of revival that will change the hearts and destiny of our nation.

As we look at the condition of our nation, the condition of our state, and the spiritual condition of the church we may feel overwhelmed and wonder what we can do to make a difference. Throughout the ages there has always been a battle between light and darkness, between the righteous and the wicked, and we continue fighting that battle.

The Shield of Faith and the Armor of God

Will there be setbacks and "lost" battles for the upright? Yes! But we must pick ourselves up, take the shield of faith and the armor that God has provided for us and continue to fight! We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in heavenly places.

The Battle Between light and darkness

In the Book of Esther we see the battle between light and darkness. For a season it seemed that darkness was going to prevail but in the end Light overcame the darkness. Light overcame because there was found in Shushan a small group of people willing to give of themselves to seek the face of God on behalf of their nation.

At this time in our nations history we feel we are being overcome by darkness. But just as in the days of Esther, Light can prevail over darkness! We believe God has brought this group together for such a time as this. Each one of you has an important part in this battle between light and darkness that now rages over our nation and over our Commonwealth.

As we go forward together we will see victories and "defeats", but if we do not grow weary we will rejoice in the end as we see light overcome darkness. Hanna